The Mets will play the remainder of the 2025 season without their biggest bullpen acquisition of the winter, as veteran lefty A.J. Minter is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery next Monday to repair a torn left lat muscle that ripped entirely off the bone.
Minter has experienced a string of bad luck dating back to last summer, as he suffered a torn labrum in his left hip in August that shut him down and required a cautious ramp-up period this spring. While he made 13 appearances for the Mets in April, he threw in back-to-back games only twice. His last outing came against the Nationals on April 26.
Now, the 31-year-old southpaw is facing yet another unconventional spring training regimen in 2026. His rehab process is expected to last 10-12 months, and only time will tell how long it takes for him to completely heal and pitch at a high level for the big league club again.
"It's super frustrating, because I was starting to feel so good. I wish I knew what caused it," Minter explained before Friday's game against the Cubs. "If I had to guess, I was feeling so good that I gained so much more range of motion in my hips. It was allowing me to get a little more extension on the mound. Maybe it put more stress on my arm, I don't know.
"My velocity was increasing at a pretty rapid rate, that maybe had something to do with it. There's so many scenarios. I wish it wouldn't have happened. The frustrating thing is, I was feeling so good and excited to help this team... But now my thought process is to come back, get my body in the best shape possible, and help the team next year."
Minter signed a two-year, $22 million deal with the Mets in January and wasted no time living up to his value. In his first month with the team, he registered a sharp 1.64 ERA with 14 strikeouts across 11 innings. He also posted one of the game's top strikeout rates (34.8 percent).
While the two-year contract does include an opt-out clause after this season, it's safe to say that the Mets don't need to think about Minter possibly exercising it anymore.
This weekend the NBA world descends on Chicago for the annual NBA Draft Combine, where thanks to a change in the CBA nobody is allowed to skip out — all the top names need to show up and participate to be draft eligible (as well as share medical records). It’s a big change from previous combines.
Here is everything you need to know about the 2025 NBA Draft Combine.
Where is the 2025 NBA Draft Combine
The NBA Draft Combine will occur from May 11-18 in Chicago, at the Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis hotel. This location is an annual tradition.
How to watch NBA Draft Combine 2025
All of the combine’s activities will be streamed on ESPN+. On May 14 at 2 p.m. Easter, there will be a broadcast from the combine on ESPN2, which will also be streamed on ESPN+.
How does the NBA Draft Combine 2025 work?
The NBA has invited 75 players to the NBA Draft Combine, and under the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), all of them have to “attend and participate fully” to be draft eligible. The league has defined “participate fully” as undergoing physical medical exams, sharing their medical history, taking part in the measurements, physical strength and agility testing, and shooting drills. Those players also have to do media interviews and have team meetings.
Every one of the 75 players in attendance will be officially measured for their height (without shoes), wingspan, and standing reach.
Next, there are athletic measures (something the top players used to skip, but no more). The players are measured for their vertical leap — both standing and a running max vertical — as well as being timed through a shuttle run, a lane agility test, and timed on a three-quarter court sprint.
For the NBA front office people who flood into Chicago this week, the most important part of the combine is interviews. That’s when they sit down with top players and others they are interested in and have a formal conversation with them.
The final days of the combine also see scrimmages, conducted by NBA assistant coaches, and not every player has to go through these (and top players will not). These games are a chance for players who are on the draft bubble to catch the eye of a scout or GM, maybe get themselves selected (or put in line for a camp invite and maybe a two-way contract).
NBA Draft Combine 2025 top players
The biggest names in the coming NBA draft will be in Chicago this week. That includes lock No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, as well as the next three on top of draft boards (what order they are selected could be impacted by the NBA Draft Lottery Monday night): Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey from Rutgers, as well as VJ Edgecomb from Baylor.
However, the combine doesn’t move the top of the draft. There will be 75 players in Chicago — more than can be drafted, there are only 59 picks this year — so the combine is a chance for a player farther down draft boards to stand out and help their stock.
The NBA announced today that 75 players have been invited to the 2025 NBA Draft Combine, which will take place from May 11-18 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the 2025 NBA G League Elite Camp, which… pic.twitter.com/KlCy4tcvW8
The combine is a chance for a player who has slid to the late first round during the college season to improve his stock, or a player who might be undrafted could have a great scrimmage and draw the interest of a team.
One player to watch is BYU’s Egor Demin, the 6’9” point guard who may be the best passer in the draft, but scouts have questioned his ability to be a scorer and defender at the next level. If Demin can show an improved shot and good athleticism, it helps his cause.
Another is Florida point guard Walter Clayton Jr., a standout who helped his cause during the NCAA Tournament, jumping from a second-round pick to a first-rounder for many teams. How he does at the combine can cement that first-round status, or drop him back.
A lot of players will use the feedback they get from teams at the combine to determine if they should stay in the NBA draft or return to college. Names to watch on that front include Carter Bryant from Arizona, Karter Knox from Arkansas and Drake Powell from North Carolina.
Red Sox owner John Henry, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, and president/CEO Sam Kennedy flew to Kansas City to meet with their disgruntled slugger. Manager Alex Cora joined the group as they discussed Devers calling out Breslow and the team for asking him to make another position switch.
Breslow said Henry did most of the talking during what he called a “productive” exchange.
“There were conversations. John, Sam and I flew out earlier today,” Breslow told reporters at Kauffman Stadium. “It was actually John who spoke directly with Raffy. We felt like it was important based on the situation that unfolded yesterday to come out here and have an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox. That being great teammates for each other.”
Cora echoed Breslow’s statement before Friday’s game.
“It was a good conversation,” he said. “(Devers) expressed his feelings. John (Henry) did the same thing. The most important thing here is we’re trying to accomplish something big.”
Breslow asked Devers about moving from designated hitter to first base after Boston’s everyday first baseman, Triston Casas, went down with a season-ending knee injury. With Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro as the only big-league-ready first basemen in the organization, Devers was among the most sensible options to fill the void.
Although Devers said he wouldn’t be open to playing first base, Breslow noted that the conversations with the three-time All-Star would continue.
Toro is the Red Sox’ starting first baseman for Friday’s series opener against the Royals.
It took the Giants 18 batters Friday night before they picked up their first baserunner — a Christian Koss single — and that perfectly summed up their 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
Twins starter Chris Paddack dominated the Giants, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning before Koss lined a solid base hit to center field with two outs in the frame.
The Giants’ only run of the game came when Matt Chapman connected for his eighth homer of the season in the seventh inning, taking Paddack deep to left.
Paddack, who hadn’t pitched beyond the fifth inning this season, allowed three hits and one earned run in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out six Giants batters.
Jordan Hicks made his eighth start of the season and he pitched well overall, but his first-inning struggles bit him again.
Hicks found himself in immediate trouble, giving up a leadoff triple to Byron Buxton to begin the game and the next batter, Trevor Larnach, brought the center fielder home with an RBI single.
Hicks settled down, giving up runs in the fourth and fifth, but the Giants’ offense couldn’t figure out Paddack, making any comeback attempt futile.
In six innings, Hicks allowed seven hits, three earned runs, while striking out six. He didn’t walk any batters, a positive sign for the 28-year-old.
But Hicks and the Giants will have to figure out how to address his first-inning woes. He entered Friday’s game with a 12.86 ERA in seven starts. He lowered that number to 12.38 after his latest outing, but he still put San Francisco in an early hole.
Overall, Hicks has a 5.82 ERA this season, and while the Giants are committed to let him start games, they might have to consider a rotation change as they compete for an NL playoff spot.
The Florida Panthers will be back on the ice for Game 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 9. This is a must-win game for the Panthers, as a loss would make them fall down 3-0 in the series, which would be incredibly difficult to climb out of.
While speaking to reporters, including The Athletic's Chris Johnston, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov shared his mindset heading into Game 3 and made it clear that he and the club are still feeling good despite their tough start to the series.
"It's not the most ideal thing to be down 2-0, but I think the mood is good," Barkov said. "We're happy to be back home. We're happy to play in front of our fans. I'm really excited for tonight's challenge."
While the Panthers have undoubtedly had a shaky start to their series against the Maple Leafs, it is apparent that Barkov is still optimistic heading into Game 3. Being back home should also give the Panthers a boost, and it will be interesting to see if they take advantage of it.
Barkov has been one of the Panthers' top performers this post-season, recording two goals and six points in seven games thus far. This includes scoring a goal in Game 2 against the Maple Leafs. Now, he will look to have a big performance in Game 3 from here.
A win against the Leafs would be huge for the Panthers, as they would make the series 2-1 and would have the chance to tie it back up in Game 4 at home. We will now need to wait and see if Barkov and the Cats can pick up a victory from here.
The skill Michael Conforto has been best at this season is probably the last one he ever hoped to master.
“To be good at dealing with a slump,” the 32-year-old veteran outfielder said, “is not something that you necessarily want.”
Then again, when you’re batting .135 on the season, have a lone single in your last 40 at-bats, and have gone a month with as many as hits as double-play grounders (seven each), there’s little else for Conforto to do right now than grit his teeth, hold up his head and believe that — some day, some how — things will finally turn around.
“This game will kick you down. It will kick you when you’re down. It can be cruel,” Conforto said. “So sometimes, you just have to lean on what you know you are as a player, and all the support you have around you … and keep going straight ahead, keep working.”
After starting his season with a six-game hitting streak, and batting .308 with six extra-base knocks (including two home runs) over his first eight games, the man manager Dave Roberts deemed as his “pick to click” in the preseason instead started firing blanks.
Beginning April 6, Conforto went on a nine-game strikeout binge, fanning 13 total times in a three-for-27 stretch that erased any confidence he had built with his hot start.
Ever since, the game has kept giving him a stiff boot every time he’s tried to get his numbers back up again.
Conforto recorded three hits over six games in mid-April, only to immediately endure an 0-for-31 stretch (including 15 strikeouts) that ranked as one of the 10 longest hitless streaks in the Dodgers’ history in Los Angeles — a rut that even a few games using a torpedo bat to couldn’t snap him out of.
He rolled a single through the infield last Monday in Miami, looking to the heavens with a sigh of relief after his first hit in 10 games. But it didn’t prove to be a spark. Despite feeling better about the competitiveness of his at-bats and the quality of his contact this week, he entered Friday on another 0-for-9 skid, the cruelty of his season reaching new lows in the Dodgers’ loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
In his first at-bat, Conforto hit a changeup on the screws, rocketing a 101-mph fly ball to deep center. The drive traveled 397 feet, the second-farthest he has hit a ball this season. But it found the deepest part of Chase Field’s ocean of an outfield, tracked down by center fielder Alek Thomas just in front of the 407-foot marker in straightaway center. He frustratedly gnawed on a piece of gum as he trotted back to the dugout.
His next time up, Conforto smoked the ball again, clobbering a 110.9-mph line drive that represented his hardest exit velocity of the season. Before he was even out of the batter’s box, however, he watched All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte climb the ladder and rob him with an athletic leaping snag, turning a ball with an expected batting average of .860 into yet another out.
After a leadoff walk in the seventh, Conforto got one more chance in the eighth. The Dodgers had a rally going, scoring twice to trim a five-run deficit to three. When he stepped in, he represented the tying run with runners on the corners and one out.
Though he fell behind 0-and-2, he got a good pitch to hit, finding the barrel on an inside fastball for a 95-mph grounder. But once again, Marte was there, fielding and throwing the ball in one turning motion to start a double play that ended the inning.
It was three well-struck balls, for three slump-extending outs.
“I’m definitely frustrated,” Conforto said from his locker postgame. “Happy with a couple hard-hit balls today. Frustrated to be in position to keep a rally going and not being able to beat that ball out. It’s frustrating. It makes me sick.”
Conforto’s overall numbers this season have had the same ill-inducing effect.
The Dodgers' Michael Conforto entered Friday with a .135 batting average, the second-lowest among qualified MLB hitters. (Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
His .135 batting average entering Friday is the second-lowest among qualified MLB hitters, one point above Washington’s Josh Bell and 35 points worse than anyone else. His .225 slugging percentage is also next-to-last in the big leagues. His .503 OPS and negative-0.6 mark in wins above replacement rank bottom five. His whiff and strikeout rates are well below league-average.
“If I could tell you exactly why these things happen, it would be a lot easier to come out of them,” Conforto said, somewhat unsure himself of how his numbers have remained so bad for so long. “They signed me because I have good zone [discipline] and an ability to get on base and have some power and spray the ball all over the field. It’s more about just being me and not chasing results.”
Perhaps most frustrating is that Conforto has actually felt more like himself lately.
With Thursday’s performance, he has now recorded a hard-hit ball (one with an exit velocity greater than 95 mph) 14 of the last 21 times he has made contact. He has struck out only twice in his last four games, and continues to draw walks at one of the league’s best rates, his 20 free passes trailing only Shohei Ohtani for the Dodgers’ team lead.
Given the $17 million investment the Dodgers made in him this offseason, and a 10-year career track record of productive (albeit injury-plagued and often inconsistent) offense, he hasn’t been demoted to the bench yet.
Internally, the Dodgers remain hopeful he is on the verge of a rebound.
“He’s obviously way better than he’s been,” co-hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said this week. “He’s a quality hitter. Long history of being really good. I think he’s gonna be just fine.”
Still, until the hits start falling, the mental toll of it all will only continue to mount.
“I think we’re right on the edge of getting things back,” Conforto said. “There’s just been a few of them where, you hit it [well], you look up and there’s somebody there. It just seems to happen more when you’re not going right.”
The biggest compliment Dodgers coaches have paid Conforto recently is how he’s handled this unthinkably bad start.
Van Scoyoc described Conforto, a one-time All-Star with the New York Mets whose career has tailed off since missing all of 2022 with a shoulder injury, as a “pro” who is “ready for every at-bat” and “never throws a fit” about his lack of results.
Roberts said it’s still “easy to bet on him because the head is still there, the work is still there.”
“He's just got to keep taking good at-bats, and they'll fall,” Roberts said. “A guy that's been around for so long, I think he can handle this five weeks of adversity."
If it goes on much longer, of course, it could lead to more pressing roster questions.
With both Conforto and third baseman Max Muncy struggling, the Dodgers have lacked much consistent left-handed-hitting depth beyond Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. If neither of them can get going over the next couple of months, it might force the club to evaluate other options as the trade deadline nears.
That’s why the coming weeks seem critical to Conforto. He’s finally hitting balls harder again. He has eliminated some of the indecision at the plate that contributed to his 14 looking strikeouts this season, 12th-most in the majors. He feels like a breakthrough is close, even as his numbers remain at all-time lows.
“Putting together better at-bats, hitting the ball hard, I’ve just got to keep going out there, keep focusing on that,” he said. “Hopefully, [I will] find a couple holes and get it rolling.”
If it doesn’t happen soon, however, it’s fair to wonder if it ever will.
The Warriors entered Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Timberwolves expecting an uphill battle without superstar Steph Curry, who remains out with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.
However, now entering Game 3 on Saturday evening at Chase Center, Golden State coach Steve Kerr believes that – given the circumstances – the loss might end up being beneficial.
Kerr explained to reporters on Friday why he is confident the Warriors can build on their series-tying loss to the Timberwolves.
“We have to do it based on feel, but we can also do it based on last night and having a tape to watch,” Kerr said about Golden State’s preparation. “That’s why I think that game was very helpful for us. Despite the loss, we learned a lot, the players learned a lot, and I think we’ll have a concrete plan coming into tomorrow that we’ll feel good about.
“And of course, we have to adapt and adjust based on how the game is going.”
There is no scenario where Golden State would want to lose a playoff game by 24 points. But Kerr has to work with and find positives in what he has.
Because of Curry’s absence and the Warriors’ general weariness, Kerr played 14 players, with only two – Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski – surpassing 30 minutes. A direct byproduct, players who need to step up in Curry’s absence, such as Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis, flourished, efficiently scoring 18 and 16 points, respectively.
Kerr and the Warriors’ current task is simple: Stave off elimination until, ideally, Curry can return healthy. So, while Game 3 surely will be another chess match between Kerr and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, at least Kerr has a better idea of who might give Golden State its best shot with the NBA’s all-time greatest shooter in the waiting.
When NHL players get time off at mid-season after spending several months mostly indoors, many will de-camp to a beach resort to unwind and load up on some much-needed vitamin D.
Not Matt Duchene. At the 4 Nations break, the Dallas Stars center and his wife packed up their three kids – ages six, four and two – and headed north. Destination: Duchene’s hometown of Haliburton, Ont.
Nestled in Central Ontario’s cottage country, about three hours northeast of Toronto, Haliburton has a quieter and quainter vibe than Muskoka. If you head up as soon as hockey season is over, you might be the only boat on the lake before the action starts picking up on Canada Day.
Those summer days are sunny and balmy. But in February, the thermometer doesn’t get above freezing, and the daily agenda looks very different from Cabo.
“Skating on the lake is different from anything else,” Duchene said. “You feel like a kid again. Getting in an ice hut with my dad and my son, catching some trout, it was special. They had a blast being around family and friends, and it’s easy. They’re in their own beds, and they’re used to being at the cottage.”
No longer a kid himself, Duchene has passed 1,100 NHL games and ranks second in his 2009 draft class in both goals and points, behind only John Tavares.
Selected third overall by the Colorado Avalanche, Duchene jumped straight to the NHL at 18, living with veteran defenseman Adam Foote and learning what it takes to be a pro.
“I don’t think I even realized how much I was a fish out of water off the ice,” Duchene said. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
After playing just eight playoff games in his first eight full seasons in Denver, Duchene requested a trade in hopes of finding more post-season success. Early in 2017-18, he was dealt to the Ottawa Senators, staying for parts of two seasons before moving on to Columbus at the 2019 deadline. That April, he scored his first three playoff goals and experienced his first series win when the Blue Jackets swept the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in one of the biggest playoff upsets in NHL history.
With a love for country music and the family oriented lifestyle that’s the hallmark of the U.S. South, Duchene signed a seven-year UFA deal with the Nashville Predators on July 1, 2019. He logged a personal-best season in 2021-22, with 43 goals and 86 points. But when three first-round playoff exits were followed by a playoff miss in 2023, the Preds bought out the last three years of Duchene’s $56-million deal.
Though he was blindsided by the buyout, Duchene bounced back quickly. Just two days after the news broke, he inked a one-year pact with the Stars at a bargain $3-million cap hit. Dallas offered the southern lifestyle that suited him and his family, and pre-existing relationships through Hockey Canada with key Stars personnel, including GM Jim Nill, coach Peter DeBoer and assistants Steve Spott and Misha Donskov, also helped make the Lone Star State a good fit.
As Duchene delivered smart, solid two-way play at a team-friendly price point, the passionate and growing Stars fan base embraced their new center.
“It’s been a really soft place to land after probably the hardest thing I’ve gone through in my career,” Duchene said.
Over the years with Team Canada, Duchene won Olympic gold in Sochi in 2014 and two World Championships (2015 and 2016). He’s now a Stanley Cup away from joining the Triple Gold Club – but he’s also among the 10 most experienced players still looking for their first NHL title.
As consistent contenders knocking on the door over the past few years, the Stars offer a golden opportunity to check that box. And last spring, Dallas’ 19-game playoff run to the Western Conference final was the longest of his career, and it was just the second time he’d gotten out of the first round.
Duchene’s personal highlight was his series-winning goal in double OT of Game 6 in the second round to eliminate his old friends in Colorado. But the eye-opener was the first-round, seven-game slugfest against Vegas.
After the Golden Knights took out Dallas in the West final before going on to win the Cup in 2023, the magnitude of the rematch was crystal clear, even to a newcomer.
“I think every team and every person in this league has a dragon they need to slay,” Duchene said. “That was ours, and it was by a hair. I’ve never played hockey like that, where it literally felt like nearly every shift was a tie. I think that series took years off my life. I don’t think I’ve ever been so stressed out playing hockey.”
Call it a good kind of stress? Last July 1, he re-upped on another one-year deal at the same $3-million cap hit.
“It was definitely not a situation where we even looked anywhere else,” he said. “There was so much unfinished business. The hockey is what I’m looking for right now, and I only get to do this so much longer. I’m trying to win. I’m trying to fulfill my potential and feel good about what I did in my career.”
In early March, a two-assist night and first-star performance in the Stars’ 4-1 road win over the Vancouver Canucks brought Duchene to 66 points in 64 games, one more than last season, and kept him tied with Jason Robertson atop the team’s leaderboard.
“With the adversity we’ve had with injuries, if he doesn’t play the way he’s played all year, we wouldn’t be in the spot we’re in in the standings,” DeBoer said. “He’s given us big-time minutes and big-time production all year.”
As the Stars prepared for another run through the Western Conference playoff gauntlet, Nill took the most significant trade-deadline swing of the year when he acquired Duchene’s old Colorado teammate Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes in a deal that included an eight-year contract extension for Rantanen.
A month earlier, Nill had acquired two other former teammates of Duchene’s. Mikael Granlund was a frequent linemate in Nashville, and Cody Ceci was a familiar face from Ottawa, added for defensive depth following Miro Heiskanen’s late-January knee injury and subsequent surgery.
Now in his 16th NHL season, Duchene hopes that once his kids are a little older, he can serve as a mentor himself.
“Because someone did it for me, I would love to do it at some point down the road,” he said. “I was definitely someone who rode that rollercoaster and really felt the ups and downs. I manage way better now, and if I can help a young guy get there a little quicker than I did, then what I went through is worth it.”
He also dreams of the day he can bring the Stanley Cup home to Haliburton.
“The people there eat, sleep and breathe hockey,” he said. “It would be incredible to bring that back to so many people that have been part of my journey in so many great ways and to bring it to a town that is extremely humble and hardworking. It’s shaped so much of who I am and my values.”
This article appeared in our 2025 Top 100 NHLers issue. This issue focuses on the 100 best players currently in the NHL, with the Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon sitting atop the list. We also include features on Alex Ovechkin finally beating Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record, and former CFL running back Andrew Harris' switch to semi-professional hockey. In addition, we provide a PWHL playoff preview as the regular season nears its end.
You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.
The Vegas Golden Knights were in a precarious position entering Game 2 of their best-of-seven second-round series against the reigning Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Vegas had a 2-0 lead in the first period in Game 1, but the Oilers slowly chipped away and broke a 2-2 tie in the third period in a 4-2 win earlier in the week.
The Golden Knights jumped out to the lead again in Game 2, with former Buffalo Sabres winger Victor Olofsson and team captain Jack Eichel teaming up on the power play for Olofsson’s first goal of the playoffs. Edmonton scored three straight goals and led 3-2 after two periods, and extended their lead with ex-Sabre Evander Kane scoring his third of the playoffs before the Golden Knights rallied to tie the game.
Olofsson, who spent his first six seasons with Buffalo before signing a one-year, $1.075 million deal with the Golden Knights last summer, has always been effective on the power play, but saw his role diminish with the Sabres after scoring a career-high 28 goals in 2022-23. The Swedish winger scored his second on the power play and added an assist on Alex Pietrangelo’s tying marker.
In spite of the former Sabres combining for six points, Leon Draisaitl scored in overtime to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead in the series heading back to Edmonton on Saturday.
Here is how the former Sabres did in the playoffs on Thursday:
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee, in an effort to enhance the flow of games, has recommended that video reviews of out-of-bounds calls can only be initiated by a coach's challenge. The NCAA announced Friday that the committee met this week in Indianapolis and addressed concerns about lengthy disruptions, particularly near the end of games. In addition to recommending the use of coach's challenges, points of emphasis to improve flow will include directives to address delay-of-game tactics, limit time spent at the monitor, improve game administration efficiency and reduce physicality.
